Siebel Analytics Server Administration Guide > Working in a Repository's Physical Layer > Physical Layer Objects >

Working with Databases

The Physical layer of the Administration Tool contains one or more databases. The databases can be of the same or different RDBMS varieties as well as XML data sources. For information about supported databases, see System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Siebel SupportWeb.

You can use the Database dialog box to perform the following tasks:

Creating or Editing a Database Object

Use the General tab of the Database dialog box to create or edit a database object in the Physical layer of the Administration Tool.

To create or edit a database object

  1. In the Physical layer of the Administration Tool, right-click and select New Database from the shortcut menu.

    2. The Database dialog box appears.

  2. In the General tab, do the following:
    1. Enter a name for the database.
    2. In the Data source definition area, use the drop-down list to specify the database type.

      3. NOTE:  The database type is set automatically when the metadata is imported to the Physical layer. During the metadata import process, some ODBC drivers provide the Siebel Analytics Server with the database type. If the server cannot determine the database type, the appropriate ODBC type is assigned to the database object.

    3. (Optional) Enter a description of the database.
    4. (Optional) Click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog box, where you can assign user or group permissions to the database.

      5. For information about assigning permissions to a database, see Setting Permissions for Repository Objects.

  3. (Optional) Click the Features tab to examine the types of queries supported by the database type specified in the previous step.

Specifying Types of Queries Sent to a Database

The Features tab of the Database dialog box contains a Feature table, which lists the SQL features supported by the data source. When a database type is specified in the General tab of the Database dialog box, the Feature table is automatically populated with default settings, which indicate the SQL features the server uses with this data source.

You can change the default settings. For example, if a data source supports left outer join queries but you want to prohibit the Analytics server from sending such queries to a particular database, you can change this default setting in the Feature table.

CAUTION:  Be very careful when modifying the Feature table. If you enable query types that the database does not support, your query may return errors and unexpected results. Also, disabling query types that are supported can result in the server issuing less efficient SQL to the database.

To specify types of queries sent to a database

  1. In the Physical layer of the Administration Tool, double-click the database for which you want to specify query types.
  2. In the Database dialog box, select the Features tab.

    3. The Feature table includes two check boxes: Default and Value. The Default check box is automatically selected for the query types that are supported for the database type specified in the General tab. The Value check box allows you to enable query types other than the default query types.

  3. Do one of the following:

To locate a query type

  1. In the Features tab of the Database dialog box, click Find.
  2. Enter a string to search for, and then click OK.

To restore the default entries for the selected database type

Changing Feature Table Entries Using Ask DBMS

The Ask DBMS button on the Features tab of the Database dialog box allows you to query a database for the query types it supports. You can then change the entries that appear in the Feature table based on your query results.

The Ask DBMS button is not available if you are using an XML data source.

CAUTION:  Be very careful when using Ask DBMS. The results of the features query are not always an accurate reflection of the query types actually supported by the data source. You should only use this functionality with the assistance of Siebel Technical Support.

To change Feature table entries using Ask DBMS

  1. In the Features tab of the Database dialog box, click Ask DBMS.
  2. In the Browse dialog box, select a connection pool with which to query the data source.

 Siebel Analytics Server Administration Guide 
 Published: 23 June 2003